Abstract
The Municipal Development Forums (MDFs) are participation mechanisms established in several Ugandan municipalities as part of the urban development intervention TSUPU and constitute the empirical object of this research. The theoretical and analytical framework presented in this chapter introduces the theoretical instruments which are employed to capture and analyse the MDFs as instances of participation. In this thesis, I look at participation in development interventions through the lens of organisational studies theory.
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Notes
- 1.
Several authors point out that continuities exist from colonial times, especially in the case of participation as part of decentralisation programmes, which bear resemblance to the concept of indirect rule often employed by colonisers to retain control of the vast territories they were trying to subdue (see Cornwall, 2006).
- 2.
Good governance is an elusive concept with definitions varying between development organisations. The World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Index (WGI) is built upon six categories, namely voice and accountability, political stability and the absence of violence, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, the rule of law and control of corruption (for an analysis of the WGI see Erkkilä and Piironen, 2014; World Bank, 2019d). Drawing on several of the World Bank’s World Development Reports, King depicts the good governance agenda as “focused on building democratic, decentralised governments, capable of responding to active, empowered citizens supported by CSOs” (King, 2015: 742). Grindle, using the same texts, differentiates between characteristics of good governance (such as decentralisation, an independent judiciary and a sound regulatory system), institutions for good governance (e.g. participation and transparent budgeting), and specific laws, policies, services and strategies for good governance in which community development and the empowerment and engagement of the poor are important factors (Grindle, 2004: 528). She also points out that in the World Bank’s 1997 World Development Report, “developing countries were advised to pay attention to 45 aspects of good governance; by 2002, the list had grown to 116 items” (Grindle, 2004: 527). Similarly critical, Andrews highlights that indicators for good governance often comprise long lists of characteristics (Andrews, 2008: 379). In a later working paper, Grindle summarises the characteristics of good governance in the eyes of the World Bank as “accountability and transparency, efficiency in how the public sector works, rule of law, and ordered interactions in politics” (Grindle, 2010: 2). Of course, other organisations in the field of development carry forward their own definitions of good governance. The United Nations Development Programme, as Grindle points out, “singles out characteristics like participation, transparency, accountability, effectiveness, and equity” (Grindle, 2010: 2), the German Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development lists the principles of good governance as transparency, accountability, efficient and effective administrative action as well as the participation of the entire population and the consideration of the needs of vulnerable populations (Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung, 2019).
- 3.
Since these seminal works, neo-institutionalist theory has developed significantly and introduced such concepts as institutional entrepreneurship, institutional logics, institutional work and institutional complexity. An overview of the development of neo-institutionalist theory is provided by (Alvesson and Spicer, 2019). Some of these approaches and their relevance for the research in this thesis will be discussed in the conclusion to Chapter 4 (Responding to the Myth of Participation through Interpretation and Decoupling) and the thesis’ overall discussion in Section 7.1.1 (Explaining Different Interpretations of the Rationalized Myth).
- 4.
Mosse furthermore acknowledges that development professionals are aware of these occurrences, but development’s approaches and solutions nonetheless remain dominant: “Expert ideas at the centre seem remarkably resilient in the face of contrary evidence”(Mosse, 2013: 7).
- 5.
The political science concept of norms (see Anderl, 2017: 155–157) can be seen as similar to the neo-institutional conceptualisation of institutions and is often invoked with respect to participation in development.
- 6.
International relations theory speaks about norm diffusion and identifies three main mechanisms through which localisation occurs: framing (actively constructing a connection between an existing local norm and a global norm), grafting (combining a new norm with an existing one) and pruning (only taking up suitable parts of the norm) (see Anderl, 2016).
- 7.
This can be stated not only for the organisations which form part of the empirical investigation but can also be said for the wider organizational field. Indeed, Lewis and Mosse argue that “the order of development is primarily an interpretive order, socially sustained through ‘interpretive communities’ and necessarily separated from actual events and practice” (Lewis and Mosse, 2006b: 5).
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Schindler, E.M. (2021). Theoretical Framework. In: Structuring People. Sozialwissenschaftliche Zugänge zu Afrika. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-35903-4_2
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